COMMUNITY FORUM

Solid Base Slab For Toilet

My old house in Rochester NY was built in 1950. In the bathroom the toilet did not sit directly on the tile. Instead it sat on a rectangular base which was a few inches bigger than the footprint of the toilet. It was black and made from some dense substance, maybe some sort of stone or ceramic. It had a little gutter groove around the perimeter to catch condensation or minor leaks.

I have asked around, and this is sometimes called a "toilet pedestal" or a "closet slab". My problem is that I need one for my current house in Worcester, MA, and have not been able to find one locally.

I have called and/or visited the "big box" home improvement stores, most of the places listed under "plumbing supplies" in the yellow pages, and some of the ones under "building supplies". I even tried tile stores and custom home builders. Almost nobody had even heard of them, and those who did had no idea where to get one.

Online searching has only yielded reports that stores carry them only in certain parts of the country, especially if they are required by local building codes (which they apparently were in Rochester at that time).

So, my question is: Where can I get on in central or eastern Massachusetts, or online? I did find one place back in Rochester which had them, but that is 400 miles away and they were unsure if they could safely ship it.

In case you are wondering why I want one: I am planning to retile the bathroom floor. This can take several days, since the mortar and grout take time to dry. This is the only toilet in the house, and several days is too long to have the toilet out of service. With one of these slabs I can remove the old tile and remount the toilet on the slab all in one day. Then I can tile the rest of the floor at my leisure, since the tile only goes up to the edge of the slab.

Many of the supply houses in NYC have a white marble slab still available.

Even though they are not required by code the reason we still use them is many of the newer buildings have wooden floors in the batroom (stupid I know) so the surface the toilet sits on has to be non asorbant materials

At this point I am still looking for a source in the Worcester area. How about Boston?

My plan is to retile the bathroom floor the same way I did the kitchen floor a few months ago: Remove everything down to the tongue-and-groove which is already laid on top of the floor joists, then screw down those floorboards, then put down a layer of plywood and screw it down, then mortar and screw a layer of cement board, then mortar down the ceramic tile and grout it. So the floor level will end up very close to what it is now. The slab will probably go right on the tongue-and-groove, depending on thickness.

Along the way I will replace the toilet's drain pipe and floor flange, so it will be at the right height for the new floor. The flange is badly corroded and I have already put a repair flange onto it.

OK, I am making progress. I found a manufacturer, Remee Casting, which makes these closet slabs. The good news: This is just what I am looking for. The size is 24 by 15 inches, has either a 5.625 or a 7.5 inch hole, and can be ordered in many colors. List price is about $60.

The bad news: The manufacturer is located near Syracuse NY, they do not sell directly to consumers, and the nearest dealer is in Troy, NY, 100 miles away.

Ah, but there is one piece of good news: Several Lowes stores in NYS sell it, so it has a Lowes item number: 89233. So next week I will go to my local Lowes here in Worcester and see if they can order one for me.

I am also looking for a toilet slab. We have one under one of our toilets installed in the 80's. Trouble is, we live in Ohio and nobody around here knows what the slab is about. Our plumber from the 80's is no longer available to ask.

BV004809

07:10PM | 06/26/14

@ BV004167. I too am in Ohio and am looking for one of these things. Lowes can order me one but it'll take 3 weeks to get here. I really don't want to wait that long. Were you able to find a brick and mortar store that has one in stock?
Thanks!